THE deep disappointment expressed by Filipino fight fans at the pathetic showing of Brian Viloria, who simply surrendered his World Boxing Council light flyweight title to comparatively unknown Omar Ni?o Romero of Mexico, was caused primarily by the fact that Viloria was hyped way beyond reality.
Those who sought to exploit his one-round knockout to win the title from Eric Ortiz and proclaimed Viloria to be another ring sensation in the mould of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao either didn’t know their boxing, or were blinded by that one punch KO which unfairly put too much pressure on the young man.
Viloria’s struggle to successfully defend his crown against former champion Jose Antonio Aguirre, who had lost his two previous fights by TKO, apparently went unnoticed as they continued the hype, with Viloria and his manager Gary Gittelsohn living in a dream world and even looking to fight the ferocious warrior Jose Arce, who would probably maul Viloria if they ever meet.
The hype obviously affected veteran TV analyst Quinito Henson, who has covered numerous fights through the years with distinction but who, as the eminent lawyer and WBC founding secretary-general Rudy Salud said, must have been watching another fight that day as he had Viloria winning rounds, where he was being badly beaten. The judges’ scorecards, one of which had Viloria losing by a massive eight points, drove home the point in telling fashion. This probably aggravated the disappointment bordering on anger of some fans, who watched the anemic showing of Viloria on a big screen provided by Solar Sports, which has a tie-up with Viloria and promoted him endlessly after losing Pacquiao to the giant Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN.
That Viloria lost to Ni?o, who had beaten a string of patsies to embellish his fight record, including two of his previous four wins, which were against opponents who hadn’t won a fight in their lives, made it even worse, because fight fans looked for another sensational performance and ended up with a dud.
Those who sought to build up Viloria as the next ring sensation had no right to even remotely compare him to Pacquiao. Pacquiao is one of a kind. His courage and gallantry are unbelievable. His punching power awesome. His blinding speed one of his biggest assets. And his Filipino fighting heart, incomparable.
Viloria’s failure to respond to the pleas of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach, who used every conceivable tactic to rouse him from his stupor raised the question of whether he had the essential element in bigtime pro boxing… heart.
Viloria, whether promoter Bob Arum or manager Gary Gittelsohn admit it or not, clearly avoided mandatory challenger Juanito Rubillar by claiming they didn’t know when Viloria’s injured right hand would heal. But rather miraculously, not long after Rubillar signed to fight Wandee Singwancha for the interim title, Viloria’s hand suddenly healed and they announced the title defense. Of course, Ni?o looked like an easier opponent and there was more money in a Philippine-Mexico showdown so Rubillar was sacrificed. Otherwise, we would still have had a Filipino world champion today.
Viloria’s often highly publicized Filipino roots were almost starkly absent except for the flag on his shorts alongside that of the United States. He entered the ring with a bevy of hula dancers and his theme song was “Hawaii Five-O.” He was introduced by Michael Buffer as being from Waipahu, Hawaii. As one fan remarked after the fight, it’s good they didn’t emphasize his Filipino roots, because it would have damaged the respect and admiration Pacquiao has built through the years for the Philippines.
However, we should banish the thought that Viloria threw the fight for whatever reason. That is an insult to a fine young man and an affront to his integrity and that of his manager Gary Gittelsohn. We can criticize him all we want because of our collective frustrations, but we should never ascribe his loss to such a sinister motive. It’s mean and terribly unfair.
